Tonight’s West Seattle Crime Watch roundup starts with another stolen car getting found – Carissa reported her Audi was stolen in early October; she e-mailed again to say it was found last Thursday night at Sea-Tac Airport. One odd detail from Carissa: “There were tools in the back with paperwork for Queen City Sheet Metal Company.” (Just to see what’s trending now, we checked the police-report map for the most recently reported car thefts in West Seattle: A truck was stolen late last night from the 3400 block of 40th SW; a car was stolen early yesterday from the 5200 block of 19th SW; and one was taken late Sunday night from the 6700 block of 12th SW. That’s the entirety of the detail available – which is why we welcome reader reports with more info.)

Ahead, six more reader reports – including a neighborhood where burglars seem to strike on a certain day of the week:

From Michelle in Arbor Heights:

34th and 100th during the day Friday, October 12th, my house was broken into; they took laptops and jewelry. iI found out that my neighbor on 34th and 102 was broken into on Friday, October 19th; two weeks prior, the house across from this neighbor was also broken into on a Friday during the day. It appears to be on Fridays and they are entering during the day, breaking windows or going into open windows. They are taking computers, jewelry, cameras, etc. easy things that likely can fit into a backpack.

From Mindi:

Someone stole our son’s jogging stroller from our backyard in the 3400 block of 45th Ave SW, across from Madison Middle School. It was taken sometime between late evening on Friday 10/12 through Sunday evening 10/14. It is very sad that someone would steal something that belongs to a child. Our family just moved into the neighborhood and have had two thefts from our yard in two months. We are very concerned about the crime we fallen victim to in such a short amount of time.

From Ross:

Our car was prowled Saturday night (10/19-10/20) and our car stereo was stolen. No other items were taken, thankfully. We live on 5600 block of 37th Ave. SW.

From Nathan:

I saw this story, and thought I would add that our car was also broken into on the 9600 block of 47th Ave. SW on Wed. (10/17) night. We’re just a couple blocks down from 9200 47th Ave SW where the other break-in occurred that night. We discovered that one of the power door locks wasn’t working correctly (since fixed), so the car may have been unlocked.

From Kelly:

I just wanted to make you and other neighbors aware of mail theft happening on our block. There are two young ladies and man (in their 20s it seems) that have been stealing mail out of mail boxes around our house. We live in the area of 19th and 107th. Recently, they stole a neighbor’s credit card, ordered a laptop, and then tried to steal it from their front porch! The woman went so far as to knock on the door with the children home and ask if they had seen a package that was “delivered to the wrong address” but luckily the family found out she had ordered it from their stolen credit card! The police were called and came by but we believe they’re still out there, on foot and bike. Just wanted neighbors to know so we can all keep our eye out for mischievous behavior.

And Matthew e-mailed an observation that seems best shared as a reminder – if you have a garage, lock it! He noticed open garages while out for a walk in the morning in an alley south of The Junction, not far off California, and wondered whether it was deliberate or the work of burglars trying doors, opening them, and prowling.

Monday morning I interrupted 2 men appx 20 years old casing my neighbors house at 8:15 AM in the area of 109th and 28th ave sw. They said they were looking for someone that clearly did not live in the house. On bikes, with empty backpacks, dressed in dark baggy clothes. I did call the police and they sent a crusier out, I saw them pass, not sure what happened from there.

I’m curious, if you called the police to report your burglary and if it seemed like they cared or would do anything about it. I tracked down the IP address of my stolen computer but Comcast told me that the police would need to get a subpoena to find the physical address of where the IP was being used. The desk sergeant scoffed/laughed at me and was very dismissive of me about wasting his time. I never heard back from the police dept. It seems like you have to be important (like the prosecutor’s family a year ago) to get the police to help.

For the record school gets out around 2pm leaving plenty of time for some break ins before people get home. As for the robbery that occurred on 102nd and 34th, I am the next door neighbor. The day of the robbery, my mom happened to be at my house and saw a large black SUV in front of Sue’s house. When my mom came out of my house they sped off. Sorry, we didn’t get a plate.

Single_mom, I’m sorry you got such poor service. Unfortunately it’s common. When my car was hit ‘n run a few years ago, I searched the neighborhood and found a car who fit the trim piece that fell off at the accident scene; the key from the fallen keybox also fit the driver’s side door! Open and shut case? No; the Seattle PD said they were too busy to investigate or prosecute. I filed a complaint which went nowhere, but I’d suggest you file a complaint with the police ombudsman’s office (or whatever they’re calling it this year) and make a written report. Good luck!!

I’ve given up calling the West Seattle Police for any kind of assistance. They have only responded once to five emergency 911 calls over the past 4 years involving heavy drug use, drunkenness, and property damage at my home. Their one and only response took place the next day!

That’s the problem. The SPD have been directed by the City Clowncil and mayor, that property crimes are not to be responded to unless the robber is still in the house. Property crimes have one of the lowest ranking for responding to.

I was shocked that it was an SPD officer that told me this. He didn’t like it at all.

Sad but true … you get no response for help when your car is hit and you find the person and their car that hit you, the police won’t help, your Insurance Company won’t help … you personally have to take the person to court at your expense (oh, and hire a lawyer) and hope you win or you pay court costs and can be sued! When someone try’s to break in your house, garage or shed … pretty scary situations … what’s next!??

No, it is NOT true that police will not respond unless a burglar is still present. Spend a day, a week, a month listening to the scanner, reading police reports, viewing the city crime map. Talk to your local Community Police Team officer. Or as someone suggested, file a complaint if you believe you were somehow ignored.

I had a shed broken into several years ago, and I called it into 911 (but said it was a “non-emergency”). I said the perps were long gone, but an officer did come out and look around. He also gave me tips on how to secure my home, and things to look out for in the neighborhood (Westwood). So my experience is that they will come out–but I presume that’s when they have the resources to do so. And furthermore, the officers I’ve met have all been very nice, very respectful, and helpful–even if legally their hands are tied.
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I have fallen into the trap of complaining about police response, but when I really think about it, I presume it’s mostly a matter of resources. The SPD has said they need more resources, in fact. Perhaps the reason why people don’t get responses is they don’t have the resources to respond to anything but emergencies. If we want police to take our crime reports in person, patrol neighborhoods morning, noon, and night, and staff help desks 24/7, we will have to provide SPD much more money and staff. I don’t think they are all sitting around doing nothing right now . . .

Complain, complain, complain about the police. Yet none of you take into consideration the difficulty of the job. Or, how about the fact, that the Seattle citizen has complained enough to get the DOJ here to breathe down their necks about every little thing. You wanted to rein in the police, well you have. Now you get to see what happens. You reap what you sow.

We’ve reported all the burglaries we’ve received word of. I believe the story to which you refer was taken from this Crime Watch roundup, in fact (when things get slow, the TV stations root around here and other neighborhood sites for ideas). The “Friday” trend, though, turns out to not be quite what it appears – looking at all the reports, one on SW 104th reported Friday 10/12 actually happened Thursday 10/11, while there also have been a Monday and Tuesday burglary in the past few weeks, and one that was reported this past Friday apparently happened in March (the full police report isn’t available online but the incident date is listed as 3/1; we’ve seen that happen before).